I (M28) Broke Up With My Girlfriend Because She (F28) Wanted Me to Pay for EVERYTHING. I regret my decision. Was I in the wrong?

I (M28) broke up with my then girlfriend (F28) of 4 years because of money.

Through out my relationship with my ex, I always paid for dates which I am completely okay with. I paid for small trips we'd take across the state and she never had to drive a single time. She lived about 1.75 hours away and had a nicer car than me. I'd always pick her up and drop her off. I did not mind doing those things at all. Matter of fact, I loved it.

Things became tricky when she came to me with expectations about money a year into the relationship. She told me that she expected me to start contributing to her bills, such as her phone bill, her nails, and her hair. She also requested I pay for her special cosmetic skin treatments, shopping, cosmetic products and help her with her car payments.

When we had this conversation the first time it hit me like a truck. I thought I was being financially used and I disputed this for months on end. At some point she told me that the men she had dated in the past did all that plus more. She wasn't lying about it, I saw the receipts. One of them even took her on vacation. I was not jealous about this or feeling insecure about it at the time.

She told me that, that's how relationships are and I shouldn't see it as "an expense" rather a token of my love and appreciation towards her especially if I'm working towards getting married. All my friends disagreed with this and told me to dump her, but I didn't. She made me extremely happy in every other aspect of my life. I've been in a few relationships but none like this, no woman had much as much of an effort to make me happy. Let alone a woman this attractive because she defintely turned a lot of heads when we were out together. I was taken care of, and deeply loved, and understood so well and even my bad quirks were accepted and appreciated.

She said she understood I didn't make as much as the last men she dated and she didn't want to compare. She said it was about the gesture and my willingness to do so. So with that, started paying a few of her bills, for her shopping and other things.

Over time, I started getting stressed about money because I didn't have the funds to do things I wanted to in life like improving my standard of living. I couldn't afford investing, or a house or a car newer. I started to also feel insecure because I wasn't earning enough money. Because of this, I started to resent going on dates or other activities because I was struggling financially to keep up. I tried explaining to her that things were tight but she said it was my job to figure things out and that she wouldn't compromise because what I was doing was the bare minimum. She felt disrespected or unloved when I said no to things.

I'm not the type of man to endulge in luxury myelf. I'm super simple, and I felt like I couldn't keep up with her, or what her ex's did for her for her. My insecurities got worse, and at this point my friends and parents were telling me that if I did these things for any other girl, I'd be treated even better and that I was being taken advantage of.

My breaking point was when she asked for a nose job. I told her I couldn't afford it, and she said I could just get it on a payment plan. At that point I told her I had enough and we broke up. We were on and off for a few weeks because we were still close, and the love was mutual, however eventually we drifted away.

Since then I've been alone and reflecting on my decision. My friends and family did not like her at all and said I was being taken advantage of. However, I keep hearing how it's becoming more common for men to offer to pay for a woman's things. Men enjoy taking care of their women, and pampering them and that some of them really go out of their way to make sure that their women are showered with gifts. I hear some men say that it's harder for women to make money (due to wage differences etc.), let alone as much money as men, so we shouldn't expect them to have to pay for things or go 50/50 and make their lives easier because we love them. Especially if we want to get married down the road.

I'm wondering if the issue was actually me. Was it my fault for not making enough money or working harder to make more? Was I not understanding her love language? Was I wrong to complain about money at all, since this is what some modern relationships look like? Is it the expectation that attractive women have high costs/demands?

TL;DR: Broke up with my girlfriend because she wanted me to pay for bills, shopping, gifts, travel, etc. Regretting my decision because now I'm more alone than ever and seeing men around me do these things for their women happily. Was I wrong? Is it my fault I don't make enough to date as a man in my late 20s?

Sorry for the excessively long post.